2 min read
ByDavid Collier, David Collier
Let down by a society that doesn't believe in truth, Wanstead High School pupil Leanne Mohamad has already been weaponised. With the publicity her anti-Israel speech received , I feel sorry for her.
She will now be further affected by the hurricane surrounding the speech. It is unlikely she will draw the correct conclusions. Those that have influenced her already will ensure that the reasons behind her "inability to speak freely" are understood the way they want them to be, as a reinforcement of another antisemitic myth - that secret Jewish control stops people from telling the truth about them. Nobody will tell Leanne she is being excluded for lying.
The parents, the community, social media, the school, the teachers; these are the ones that remain responsible for the fact that a child of the UK has been brought up to propagate a myth that divides communities, a myth that spreads hate, a myth that seeks conflict.
In our society, that naqba myth is fostered and nurtured, as if truth and history are no longer relevant.
Last week I was thrown out of the headquarters of the NUT because I am not willing to demonise Israel. I support a negotiated settlement, I am willing to exchange land for real peace and feel sorry for the general Palestinian population. This is not enough for those that kicked me out.
I followed this up with three events this week. One held by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign with Miko Peled, another by a group called One Democratic State in Palestine hosting Ilan Pappe, and a meeting of the Momentum group in Haringey, with the suspended and recently reinstated Labour member Jacqueline Walker.
Such people as Ilan Pappe and Miko Peled exist in every community as oddities on the fringes. The hand of antisemitism picks them out, rewards their thoughts, gives them a stage and applauds every word they say.
Mr Pappe is a conspiratorial myth-maker. If he was American and writing about 9/11, using the same methodology as he does for Israel, no university in the West would accommodate him. Because he is Israeli, and focuses on myth-making about cabals of Zionist Jews, he is a celebrity of academia.
Mr Peled received a standing ovation, as did Pappe, Gideon Levy, and of course Walker. Everywhere I go, I see crowds standing and applauding. Enthusiastically clapping the troublemaking, myth-making, Jew-hatred.
Then I heard <2a>Walker at the Momentum meeting . Because of the Friday-night timing, there had been complaints that observant Jews could not attend. The JC ran a piece saying the event had been "cancelled". I went and so did everyone else. At the event they announced it was not an "official Momentum event". Same crowd, same venue, same time, same speakers. Truth has long ago ceased to have any meaning.
Ms Walker was applauded throughout. When she finished she received a standing ovation.
These are not isolated incidents. This is just a typical few days.
For some Jews, this world doesn't exist - those who are visibly secular and look around them before admitting to being a Zionist. The denial of the threat by an experienced diaspora community riddled with a genetic code that wants them to remain unnoticed. Everyone else gets to display pride in their identity. Only the Jew has to display that pride in secret.
The monster is coming for us. My role, like others, is to try to get this message across and to slow down and perhaps even change the direction of the tide.
